The Northern Lights Aero Foundation board has announced the eight recipients of its 2017 aviation and aerospace awards.

Each year, the not-for-profit foundation honours outstanding women who have made a significant contribution in their field and who continue to lay the groundwork to attract other women to enter or excel in these industries.

The foundation’s award program, called the “Elsie,” is named after aviation pioneer and human rights advocate Elsie Gregory MacGill, the world’s first female aircraft designer. MacGill graduated from the University of Toronto’s electrical engineering program in 1927 and later became pivotal in the design and production of the Hawker Hurricane in Canada during the Second World War. During her career, MacGill was appointed to the Canadian Royal Commission on the Status of Women and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Advertisement

“Elsie was a woman who was not very well known yet made significant contributions toward the advancement of women in Canada,” said Joy Parker Blackwood, president of the Northern Lights Aero Foundation. “Our goal is to bring more recognition for her and all the women doing great work in aviation and aerospace in Canada. They are all awe-inspiring role models for our youth!”
The 2017 recipients are:

Pioneer Award: Maj (ret’d) Dee Brasseur, one of the first two female fighter pilots in Canada, flying the CF-188 Hornet, with 21 years of distinguished service and 2,500 hours of flying jets;

Flight Operations Award: Heather McGonigal, Transwest Air’s director of flight operations, a training captain and a Saab 340 line pilot. A director for four years at the Air Transport Association of Canada, she became chair last year;

Government Award: Col (WSE) Helen Wright CD., MD., a bioscience officer with the Canadian Armed Forces, is one of the preeminent aircraft accident investigators with specialized knowledge in human factors analysis. She also led a team of aerospace medicine specialists responsible for the oversight of the aircrew medical fitness of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Wright is currently deployed on a one-year mission to Bagdad;

Business Award: Heather Bell recently retired as the general manager of the Vancouver FIR (Flight Information Region), Nav Canada. She has had a 33-year career in navigation services. During that time she received both the chairman’s and the president’s award;

Education Award: Joan Williams has more than 30 years in commercial aviation and flight training. She was the flight training manager for Toronto Airways Ltd. for 10 years and then became the director of business development. She is a long-time member and director of the Air Transport Association of Canada and recently received its Lifetime Achievement Award. Williams has been a mentor and role model for many career pilots flying today;

Engineering Award: Catherine Tsouvaltsidis graduated from space engineering. Currently working infrastructure technology solutions (ITS) for TD Bank, Tsouvaltsidis spent six years working in the Canadian Space sector, where she worked on a variety of different projects including the refurbishment and upgrading of a 46-metre radio astronomy dish; design, development and integration of a satellite tracking and monitoring platform; design, development and calibration of a micro-spectrometer aimed to measure soil moisture content from space to be used in large scale soil analysis and farming applications; and the design and development of a UV gas camera used to monitor SO2 volcanic emissions;
Advertisement

Rising Star: Jessalyn Teed is a student at the University of Waterloo (U of W) enrolled in the environmental studies and aviation program. In partnership with the U of W program, she does her flight training at Waterloo Wellington Flight Centre (WWFC). At U of W and WWFC, Teed has taken on a human factors thesis in aviation, studying the best practice for Millennials in the classroom, which targets the aviation industry as the demand for pilots increases and the practices evolve; and

Rising Star: Candace McKibbon is a terminal duty officer with the Vancouver Airport Authority and an operations agent for Marquise customer service at YVR. In addition, she is the executive director of the B.C. Aviation Council, where she is active in promoting aviation throughout the province.

Other initiatives include a speakers/mentors bureau and a scholarship program. The 2017 Gala Award Dinner will be held on Sept. 30, at the Toscana Conference Centre in Vaughan, Ont. Tickets go on sale in July.